THE FLASHLIGHT, May 19-25, 2007
THE FLASHLIGHT, May 19-25, 2007
Iraq
Casualties
NYTimes. 5-19. In the first three months of 2007, the number of US military deaths was 244. In the same period 146 mercenaries (“private contractors”) died.
[see below].
The draft oil law
Christian Science Monitor 5-19. Rep. Joe Sestak (D.), former admiral and defense advisor in the Clinton Administration, said that US oil companies had undue influence in drafting the oil [hydrocarbon] law, and that its passage should not be a benchmark for the Iraqi government. The draft oil law has not yet even been sent to the Iraqi Parliament. The draft includes the provision that foreign partners should be included in the proposed Iraqi federal oil and gas council which would regulate the industry.
The Fate of Iraqi Christians
Az-Zaman 5-23. About 250,000 native Iraqi Christians have fled the country. Of the 35,000 Christian inhabitants of Baghdad, only 400 remain. Most of the churches are closed. None of the authorities, American, Iraqi or those outside Iraq, are making any effort to protect them. Those remaining are pressured either to emigrate or to convert to Islam. ]
Mercenaries in Iraq
Jerry Scahill, author of Blackwater (New York, Norton, 2007) has collected the little that is known about mercenary operations in Iraq and elsewhere. Blackwater is the name of the private company thought to be the largest and most powerful mercenary outfit. From a data base of 21,000 members, it has 2,300 private soldiers currently deployed in nine countries and owns 20 airplanes. The US government has given it legal immunity from prosecution, and not one of its members has been prosecuted for a crime. It has provided private guards to all US ambassadors in Iraq. They are not under any government oversight and have no accountability. They also engage in “black op” covert operations which may involve heinous crimes.
In 2003 Blackwater guards earned $300 a day. The next year, working on their contract with the State Department, they earned $600 a day. Now these private guards earn $1000 to $2000 a day. Their annual salaries are in six figures.
Currently there are c. 20,000 mercenaries in Iraq accounting for about 30% of the “reconstruction” budget. [This includes both Blackwater and other mercenaries.] They do not make available any records and are not accountable to the public.
Mercenaries are being recruited mainly from retired “special operations” veterans: Delta Forcers, Navy Seals, Green Berets, Rangers, etc.
Blackwater was founded in 1996 by Erik Prince, who inherited a fortune of $1.3 billion from his industrialist father. He is a radical rightist “Christian” who began as a Calvinist and converted to Roman Catholicism. The headquarters of Blackwater, Inc. is in rural Moyock, N.C.
Lebanon
NYTimes 5-21. When an Islamic extremist group in Tripoli, Northern Lebanon, tried to rob a bank, it was thwarted and fighting broke out between extremists and the Lebanon Army. The extremists call their organization Fatah al-Islam and are thought to include 150-200 members, led by Shakir al-Absi. They say that they are ideologically sympathetic to al-Qaida. Their headquarters is in the Nahr al-Barid Palestinian refugee camp northeast of Tripoli, but most Palestinian groups disavow them. The Lebanese Army has surrounded the Nahr al-Barid and also the Ain al-Hilwa camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon. The group claimed responsibility for two bombings in Beirut.
So far there are 70 known dead from the fighting.
The leaders of Hizbollah have made no comment. They are Shia, al-Qaida is Sunni. The leader of the present government majority in the Lebanese Parliament is Sa’ad Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire. Northern Lebanon is “his” territory.
US Politics
Despite pressure from the anti-war movement, the Democratic leaders in Congress caved, and voted for supplementary financing of the Iraq War without any schedule for troop withdrawal. Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards condemned this action and said Democrats should stand their ground and stop funding the War. Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama voted against the bill. The money that was approved this time will only last until fall.
Personal
Mary Cheney, daughter of the Vice-President, has given birth to a boy.
The next issue of THE FLASHLIGHT will appear on June 15.
Iraq
Casualties
NYTimes. 5-19. In the first three months of 2007, the number of US military deaths was 244. In the same period 146 mercenaries (“private contractors”) died.
[see below].
The draft oil law
Christian Science Monitor 5-19. Rep. Joe Sestak (D.), former admiral and defense advisor in the Clinton Administration, said that US oil companies had undue influence in drafting the oil [hydrocarbon] law, and that its passage should not be a benchmark for the Iraqi government. The draft oil law has not yet even been sent to the Iraqi Parliament. The draft includes the provision that foreign partners should be included in the proposed Iraqi federal oil and gas council which would regulate the industry.
The Fate of Iraqi Christians
Az-Zaman 5-23. About 250,000 native Iraqi Christians have fled the country. Of the 35,000 Christian inhabitants of Baghdad, only 400 remain. Most of the churches are closed. None of the authorities, American, Iraqi or those outside Iraq, are making any effort to protect them. Those remaining are pressured either to emigrate or to convert to Islam. ]
Mercenaries in Iraq
Jerry Scahill, author of Blackwater (New York, Norton, 2007) has collected the little that is known about mercenary operations in Iraq and elsewhere. Blackwater is the name of the private company thought to be the largest and most powerful mercenary outfit. From a data base of 21,000 members, it has 2,300 private soldiers currently deployed in nine countries and owns 20 airplanes. The US government has given it legal immunity from prosecution, and not one of its members has been prosecuted for a crime. It has provided private guards to all US ambassadors in Iraq. They are not under any government oversight and have no accountability. They also engage in “black op” covert operations which may involve heinous crimes.
In 2003 Blackwater guards earned $300 a day. The next year, working on their contract with the State Department, they earned $600 a day. Now these private guards earn $1000 to $2000 a day. Their annual salaries are in six figures.
Currently there are c. 20,000 mercenaries in Iraq accounting for about 30% of the “reconstruction” budget. [This includes both Blackwater and other mercenaries.] They do not make available any records and are not accountable to the public.
Mercenaries are being recruited mainly from retired “special operations” veterans: Delta Forcers, Navy Seals, Green Berets, Rangers, etc.
Blackwater was founded in 1996 by Erik Prince, who inherited a fortune of $1.3 billion from his industrialist father. He is a radical rightist “Christian” who began as a Calvinist and converted to Roman Catholicism. The headquarters of Blackwater, Inc. is in rural Moyock, N.C.
Lebanon
NYTimes 5-21. When an Islamic extremist group in Tripoli, Northern Lebanon, tried to rob a bank, it was thwarted and fighting broke out between extremists and the Lebanon Army. The extremists call their organization Fatah al-Islam and are thought to include 150-200 members, led by Shakir al-Absi. They say that they are ideologically sympathetic to al-Qaida. Their headquarters is in the Nahr al-Barid Palestinian refugee camp northeast of Tripoli, but most Palestinian groups disavow them. The Lebanese Army has surrounded the Nahr al-Barid and also the Ain al-Hilwa camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon. The group claimed responsibility for two bombings in Beirut.
So far there are 70 known dead from the fighting.
The leaders of Hizbollah have made no comment. They are Shia, al-Qaida is Sunni. The leader of the present government majority in the Lebanese Parliament is Sa’ad Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire. Northern Lebanon is “his” territory.
US Politics
Despite pressure from the anti-war movement, the Democratic leaders in Congress caved, and voted for supplementary financing of the Iraq War without any schedule for troop withdrawal. Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards condemned this action and said Democrats should stand their ground and stop funding the War. Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama voted against the bill. The money that was approved this time will only last until fall.
Personal
Mary Cheney, daughter of the Vice-President, has given birth to a boy.
The next issue of THE FLASHLIGHT will appear on June 15.
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